JEFFREY SASHA NYMAN OFFICIALLY

Well, today was just too much for words.  It's hard to express how elated our hearts feel..  The joy in our hearts is overflowing.  Jeff and I cried and laughed so much today.  We have Sasha with us now and he is a complee delight.  There is a newness in hm that just relevates a peace within.  He is so happy and wants to hold our hands all the time.   It was a very emotional day but absolutely beautiful in every way.

When we went to his hometown where he was born, Ksenia said that we did not have time to stop by and see his babushka.  I made my pouty face with a big bottom lip but nothing seemed to help.  So we left after we got his birth certificate and I.D. #. 

Before we actually left to do anything this morning, Jeff and I were talking that maybe Sasha's babushka was close to our age..  OMG, that sort of freaked me out because I was afraid that she may say to Sasha, "They can't be your parents, they are too old."  haha  As it turns out, she was born in 1942, so she is a tad older than us.  Since we were not going to be able to visit his grandmother, I started looking around at every 70 year old woman in his hometown and thought, "That could be her....that could be her."  I would throw out a "Sasha Lebedev" now and then to see if they would respond.  When they didn't turn around, I would say to Jeff, that's not her...that's not her.  haha....I was so devasted and sad that we were not going to be able to meet her.

When we got to the orphanage we got all of the paperwork signed quickly and we were told that Sasha's grandmother was waiting for us.  WOW!!!!  God continues to amaze us!!!We arrived at about 12:30 and she had been sitting waiting for us since 8:00 a.m. to make sure that she didn't miss us.  As soon as we walked into the room, she hugged Jeff and I and began to cry.  Jeff and I cried a lot and told her how much we love Sasha and that he will be well loved.  We also told her through our tears, (and translator) that we love God very much and will teach him all about God.  We assured her that he is safe with us and gave her many details about our family.  When we presented her with the photo album she began to cry again.  She enjoyed looking at the pictures as Sasha explained who each person was in the picture in Russian. When I think about how difficult that must have been for her to come today, it truly blows my little mind!  She was so brave to come!  Her love for Sasha was the overriding motivation that made her come all the way just to meet us and say good bye to him..  She kept telling us how happy she was through her tears.  We asked her lots of questions and she gave us lots of answers.

Then we had our little "going away party" for Sasha and the 5th grade class.  It was rather uneventful, while they made Sasha stand in front of the classroom.  He can be very shy and does not like a lot of attention, so he was not able to speak to the classroom.  Some of the children stood up to say good bye and good luck in America.  His grandmother watched with tears of joy as he said his good byes.  There were not many hugs, just waves and "duck spit on ya" which is "good bye."

We did not get to see him say good bye to Alena, his little "girl who is a friend."  haha  He's too young for a girlfriend!  Anyway, we bought her several things and he said that she was very sad when he said good bye to her.  They would not let Jeff into the building with Sasha to say good bye to Alena.  She wrote him a sweet note which I believe says, "I love you," at the bottom.  So sweet but so sad!

Afterwards, we went to lunch with his babushka and Sasha was very sweet to listen to her stories.  He began to get a little anxious after a few hours, but when she went to the bathroom we told him the cold hard truth.  We told him to give her lots of love today because this very possibly could be the last time that he ever saw her. WOW, our poor little boy has had to swallow so many difficult situations in his 11 years.

We also asked her about her health and she told us that it was not very good.  My sweet husband gave her some cash and she was sooooooo grateful with lots more tears!  She was in so grateul and cried with joy. 

We went to dinner to celebrate and watched him eat and eat!  When we came back to our appartment we played and laughed and bonded closer than ever!  He is now sleeping on the couch and looks so peaceful!
He wanted music to be played when he layed in Jeff's arms....I put some Ukrainian music on for him and he said, "No Ukrainian, American."  He seems ready to begin his new life in America. :)

Once again, we are exhausted and have lots more running around to do tomorrow.. The BEST part though is that we have our son and we are almost done with this crazy adoption process! We have so much to be thankful for and have seen God's hand in every area of our life.  We are blessed to have an opportunity to love another child and to welcome another wonderful son into our life. Children are God's greatest blessings!  It's hard to believe that we now have four kids....what a gift! Thank you for your amazing prayers and love.  Jeff and I feel like we can breathe again!  Thank you Lord for continueing to carry us through thie storm!  love you, m and j